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Two men at a synagogue at Heaton Park in Manchester were killed on Yom Kippur when Jihad al-Shamie, 35, drove a car at bystanders and went on the attack with a knife. He was a British citizen of Syrian descent, on bail after being arrested on suspicion of rape. He was bravely prevented by those present from breaking into the main building. Police shot him dead; they also accidentally shot a worshipper who died, and wounded another. Six people were arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences. Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, appealed for a pause in pro-Palestinian protests but police arrested 488 people around Trafalgar Square demonstrating on Saturday in favour of Palestine Action – proscribed as a terrorist organisation. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said it would be ‘un-British’ to hold pro-Palestinian rallies on the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas atrocities, but demonstrations went ahead at several universities.
Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative party, said she wanted to get rid of the Climate Change Act; Baroness May of Maidenhead said that would be ‘a catastrophic mistake’. The Conservatives, enjoying a quiet conference, said they would leave the European Convention on Human Rights and get a ‘Removals Force’ to expel 750,000 illegal immigrants. Robert Jenrick waved a judge’s wig and said that in future: ‘The Lord Chancellor will once again appoint the judges.’ In Manchester, Mohammed Zahid, 64, was sentenced to 35 years for rape and allied crimes against schoolgirls in Rochdale between 2001 and 2006; six others, market workers or taxi drivers, received long sentences. In Bradford, Raja Zulqurnean was sentenced to 23 years for sexual offences against a girl he ‘married’ aged 15 in an Islamic ceremony attended by the victim’s key social worker; seven other men have been convicted of crimes against her and await sentencing. Sir Mark Rowley, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said that BBC undercover filming showed ‘incontrovertible evidence of racism, misogyny and anti-Muslim sentiment’ at Charing Cross police station. The Met said it was investigating a gang suspected of smuggling 40,000 mobile phones to China. Marcus Fakana, 19, released from jail in Dubai for sexual relations with a girl of 17, died as a passenger in a car that crashed in Tottenham after pursuit by police.
The Rt Revd Dame Sarah Mullally, 63, Bishop of London, was named the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Questions remained over the collapse of the case against two men accused of spying for China. Jaguar Land Rover resumed some production after August’s cyber-attack. A High Court judge ordered PPE Medpro, a company linked to Baroness Mone, to repay £122 million received from the Department of Health for unusable protective medical clothing. Dame Jilly Cooper, the novelist, died aged 88. Dame Jane Goodall, the expert on chimpanzees, died aged 91. Dame Patricia Routledge, Hyacinth Bucket in the television comedy Keeping Up Appearances, died aged 96. The BBC lost the TV rights to the Boat Race to Channel 4.
Abroad
Hamas accepted parts of President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and said it would release the remaining hostages, but sought further negotiations. Mr Trump said: ‘Time is of the essence, or massive bloodshed will follow.’ Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate campaigner, was among those detained and deported when Israeli forces intercepted a flotilla heading for Gaza. Russia regularly attempts to jam British military satellites, according to Major General Paul Tedman, the head of the UK Space Command.
Sébastien Lecornu resigned after 27 days as Prime Minister of France; President Emmanuel Macron then gave him another 48 hours to form a government. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, the music producer, was sentenced to 50 months in jail on two counts of transportation for prostitution. A lawyer threw a shoe at India’s Chief Justice after he made a remark about the god Vishnu.
Internet and phone connections in Afghanistan reappeared two days after the Taliban turned them off. Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic party elected Sanae Takaichi as its leader; she could become the country’s first woman prime minister. The yen fell. Gold rose above $4,000 per ounce. Renewables overtook coal as the world’s leading source of electricity in the first half of 2025. More than 500 people had to be rescued from snow on Mount Everest. CSH
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